HalloweenInsights for digital marketers

• Pooja Madaan, Insights Manager

Halloween Market Research

Trends

Bing Ads Audience

Bing Ads Marketplace Insights

•Halloween Market Research

•Trends

SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

•

2/3Of American adults

celebrated

Halloween in 2015.

$74Average spent by

shoppers.

$6.9 billionTotal spent on Halloween in 2015.

Shoppers begin early…or late

• SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

•

6%

28%41%

25%

Before September September First 2 weeks of

October

Last 2 weeks of

October

When people will begin shopping for Halloween:

The spookiest shopping list of the year

• SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

10%

23%

28%

39%

Candy

Decorations

Costumes

Cards

$43

$25

$31

$11

TIP• Ensure your Halloween items

are easy to find and buy—

consider adding Sitelink ad

extensions to make it easy for

Halloween shoppers to go

straight to your Halloween items

on your site. Product Ads via

Bing Shopping Campaigns are

also an effective way to

showcase your Halloween

products in an engaging ad

format.

70% of people say chocolate is their favorite Halloween treat, followed by candy corn (13%), chewy candy (6%), and gummy candy (5%).2

$2.1 billion will be spent on Halloween candy.1

• SOURCE: 1. National Confectioners Association, September 2015.

• 2. National Confectioners Association, Americans Stay Sweet on Halloween by Embracing Moderation, September 2015.

Passing out candy is the sweetest way to celebrate

• SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

•

13%

18%

28%

31%

41%

43%

45%

68%Hand out candy

Decorate your home/yard

Dress in costume

Carve a pumpkin

Throw or attend a party

Take children trick-or-treating

Visit a haunted house

Dress your pet in a costume

TIP• Shoppers search online and

visit brick-

and-mortar stores, likely

participating in

webrooming and

showrooming, or checking

out costumes online and

buying in store or vice-

versa. Ensure it’s easy to

find your online items via

Sitelink ad extensions

location

extensions.

In search of a killer costumeHalloween shoppers choose search as a top tool.

• SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

•

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

Star Wars costumes

The most popular costumes are timeless classics

• SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Halloween Consumer Spending Survey, September 2015.

•

TIP• Include top costumes as part of your

Halloween ad copy and keywords if

you offer costumes and décor around

these themes.

Top 10 costumes

Adults Kids

1. Witch 1. Princess

2. Animal 2. Batman Character

3. Batman Character 3. Action/Super Hero

4. Zombie 4. Animal

5. Star Wars Character5. Disney's Frozen

Characters

6. Pirate 6. Star Wars Characters

7. Vampire 7. Zombie

8. Action/Super Hero 8. Witch

9. Doctor/Nurse 9. Pumpkin

10. Slasher Mobie

Character/Political/Wentch10. Minion

1. Pumpkin

2. Hot Dog

3. Batman Character

4. Devil

5. Bumble Bee

Even pets celebrate “Howl”oween

• SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Halloween Consumer Spending Survey, September 2015.

•

TIP• Consider Sitelink ad extensions

to make it easy for Halloween

shoppers to go straight to your

webpages for pet costumes and other

Halloween items.

Top pet costumes in 2015

•

TIP• You have half the time to get the same

information to mobile visitors as PC

visitors. Design and organize your

Halloween webpages accordingly.

A rule of thumb: • Try navigating your mobile site with

just your thumb, and put your most

important content in the middle of the

screen for maximum engagement.

Halloween fun facts

• SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Halloween Overview, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

157M162 million people

celebrated

Halloween in 2015.

$6.9B$6.9 billion spent on

Halloween products

in 2015.

31%About 1/3 of

shoppers will search

online for costume

inspiration.

1/31/3 of people start

their Halloween

shopping before

October.

$350M$350 million will be

spent on pets

costumes.

Bing AdsAudience

Compared to Google, the Bing Ads audience is:

More likely to spend on gum & candy

• SOURCE: comScore Plan Metrix, US, September 2015, custom measure created using comScore indices and duplication. September data was used to reflect the month before Halloween.

5% more likely to have

spent $25-$49 on

gum or candy in the

last 30 days.

34% more likely to have

spent $50–$99 on

gum or candy in the

last 30 days.

• SOURCE: comScore Plan Metrix, US, September 2015, custom measure created using comScore indices and duplication. September data was used to reflect the month before Halloween.

5% more likely to have been the first

among friends to own/buy/use party

decoration materials.

Bing AdsSearch Trends

Halloween searches grow steadily until the big day

• SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, PC/Tablet, 8/31/15 to 10/31/15.

HALLOWEEN WEEKHalloween

5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT

Search Volume

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

Halloween Costume Searches on PC/ Tablet start picking up Mid-Sep and Peak at Halloween WeekPC/ Tablet

• SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, PC/Tablet, 8/30/15 to 10/31/15.

TIP

Leverage higher CTR and lower CPCs early before competition

intensifies by Early Oct.

Search Volume

CTR

CPC

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT 5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT

Search Volume

$-

$0.05

$0.10

$0.15

$0.20

$0.25

$0.30

$0.35

$0.40

$0.45

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

CTR vs CPC

• SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, Mobile, 8/30/15 to 10/31/15.

•

Halloween Costume Searches on Mobile start picking up Early Sep and Peak at HalloweenMobile

TIPLeverage steadily rising Click Volumes and low CPCs in Sep/ Early Oct before competition intensifies driving

up CPCs. Research Intent on Mobile causes higher CTRs in Sep.

Search Volume

CTR

CPC

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT

Search Volume

• SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, PC/Tablet, 8/30/15 to 10/31/15.

•

Halloween Decoration Searches on PC/ Tablet start picking up Early Sep and hit a last minute peak during Halloween WeekPC/ Tablet

TIPLeverage higher Click Volumes and low CPCs in Sep before competition intensifies driving up

CPCs. Decoration purchases for families happen early driving up CTRs from Mid Sep- Early Oct.

Search Volume

CTR

CPC

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT 5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT

Search Volume

$-

$0.10

$0.20

$0.30

$0.40

$0.50

$0.60

$0.70

$0.80

$0.90

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

CTR vs CPC

• SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, Mobile, 8/30/15 to 10/31/15.

•

Halloween Decoration Searches on Mobile start picking up Early Sep and hit a last minute peak during Halloween WeekMobile

TIPLeverage higher Click Volumes and low CPCs in Sep before competition intensifies driving up

CPCs. Last minute searches for Halloween Parties drives up CTR and CPC during Halloween

Week.

Search Volume

CTR

CPC

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT 5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT

Search Volume

• SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, All Devices, 8/23/15 to 10/31/15.

•

TIPPrepare early for ‘Pumpkin’ related searches for both PC/ Tablet and Mobile since they keep

trending up till Halloween day.

Pumpkin Searches on all devices start trending up steadily and grow until the big day; PC/ Tablet + Mobile

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

29-AUG 5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT 29-AUG 5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT

WEEK ENDING

31-OCT

PC + Tablet Search Volume Mobile Search Volume

Top searches during the Halloween season 2015Searches // across all devices

halloween coloring pages

halloween costumes girls

halloween pictures

harley quinn costume

day dead

headless horseman

pumpkin carving ideas

halloween express

halloween city

baby costumes

pumpkin

halloween costume ideas

costumes

pumpkin carving patterns

halloween costumes women

halloween decorations

party city halloween costumes

spirit halloween

halloween

halloween costumes

• *Brand indicates a brand term was used, represented by multiple brand names in this category• SOURCE:• Microsoft internal data, all devices, 8/23/15 to 10/31/15.

Top 25 Halloween costume searches of 2015

SOURCE:Microsoft internal data, 8/31/15 to 10/31/15.

kids halloween costumes

womens halloween costumes

halloween costumes men

wonder woman costume

halloween costume

couples costumes

halloween store

homemade halloween costumes

infant halloween costumes

sexy halloween costumes women

minion costume

toddler halloween costumes

adult halloween costumes

boys costumes

halloween costumes kids

cosplay

couples halloween costumes

halloween costumes girls

harley quinn costume

baby costumes

halloween costume ideas

costumes

halloween costumes women

party city halloween costumes

halloween costumes

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